EcoFair set for Sunday in San Rafael

Organizers of the first EcoFair Marin are hoping to attract a crowd to the Marin Civic Center fairgrounds in San Rafael on Sunday for a day of environmentally oriented speakers, do-it-yourself demonstrations, children's activities, music and food.

Demonstrations will cover a range of topics such as backyard beekeeping, reclaimed water and nontoxic cleaning products with a focus on ways individuals can lessen their environmental impact, said Paul Ferreri, executive director of EcoMarin, the nonprofit group organizing the event.

"We're trying to reach out to the broader community to show some of the simple things you can do, and not only that but be entertained," Ferreri said.

The event grew out of the city of San Rafael's 2009 Climate Change Action Plan, which recommended a festival "to promote sustainability efforts."

Organizers previously hoped to set up a Marin pavilion within a multi-day environmental fair run by the publisher of Mother Earth News, a national environmental magazine. The publisher pulled out in June, and EcoMarin scrambled to organize a smaller-scale event.

Sunday's event will include a keynote speech by Temple Grandin, a scientist who has helped develop modern animal welfare guidelines used by numerous food producers. Grandin earned her doctorate in animal science despite suffering from autism.

"It's inspirational to a lot of parents to have her," Ferreri said.

The event will be co-produced by Seven-Star Inc., the Asheville, N.C. company that puts on the Green Festival series of events in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and other cities.

Seven-Star President Georgia Malki said the San Rafael event has the potential to draw a crowd despite its proximity to the larger San Francisco Green Festival, which is held in November. More than 70 percent of San Francisco festival attendees live within just 10 miles of that event site, leaving plenty of room for other Bay Area events, she said.

"Green Festival is fantastic, but there are millions of Bay Area residents who have never been to one, and that includes the vast majority of people in Marin," she said.

EcoFair Marin will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Marin Civic Center fairgrounds on Avenue of the Flags in San Rafael. Tickets cost $5, and children 17 and younger are admitted free. For more information, visit http://ecofairmarin.org.